We Don't Worship Human Beings: Part 1

Introduction:

Today, February 15th,
is the seventh day of Adar,
According to Jewish tradition,
Moshe Rabbeinu - Moses, Our
Teacher - was born on the
seventh day of Adar, and this
was also the day when he passed
away after a life of 120 years.
In this letter, we will discuss
the following universal lesson
which we are to learn from his
life: We are to worship
Hashem, the Compassionate One,
and not human beings.

Dear Friends.

Anyone familiar with the
mythology of the ancient world
knows that it was not unusual
for a people to describe their
founder or redeemer as a god or
the son of a god. The Torah,
however, provides a striking
contrast to this pagan outlook
by emphasizing that Moshe was a
human being who was the child of
human beings. For example, the
Torah describes the birth of
Moshe in the following manner:

“A man went from the house of
Levi and he took a daughter of
Levi. The woman conceived and
gave birth to a son.” (Exodus
2:1,2)

And when the redemption of
Israel was about to begin, the
Torah interrupts the story by
recounting the genealogy of
Moshe and Aharon - another
reminder of their human origin
and nature (Exodus 6:14-27). In
his commentary on this
genealogy, Rabbi Samson Raphael
Hirsch writes:

…………………………………………………

“Right from the earliest times
it has occurred that human
beings who were outstanding
benefactors to their people,
were, after their death,
divested of their human image
and, because of their ‘godlike’
feats, were invested with a
‘Divine’ origin. We all know of
a certain Jew in later times,
whose genealogical record was
notavailable, and
because it was not available,
and because he brought people a
few sparks of light borrowed
from the man Moshe, he came to
be considered by the nations as
begotten of God; to doubt his
divinity became a capital crime.

“Our Moshe was human, remained
human, and will never be
anything but human. When his
countenance had already had
become radiant from what he was
allowed to see of God; when he
already brought the Torah from
heaven, and he had already
miraculously led the people
through the wilderness and won
for them victories of God, God
here commanded him to present
his genealogical record and
thereby affirm the fact that, on
the day that God first spoke to
Moshe in the land of Egypt,
everyone knew his parents and
grandparents, his uncles and
aunts and all his cousins. They
knew his whole lineage and all
his relatives. For eighty years
they had known him as a man of
flesh and blood, subject to all
the failings and weaknesses,
worries and needs of human
nature – a human being like all
the other human beings among
whom he had been born and
raised.

“It is written: These are
Aharon and Moshe…These are the
ones who spoke to Pharaoh…these
are Moshe and Aharon (Exodus
6:26,27). They were flesh
and blood like all other human
beings, and God chose them to be
His instruments in the
performance of His great work…

“This ‘certificate of origin’ is
meant to negate in advance and
forevermore any erroneous
deification, any illusion of an
incarnation of Deity in human
form. It is meant to uphold this
truth: Moshe, the greatest human
being of all time, was just a
human being, and the position he
attained before God was not
beyond the reach of mortal human
beings.” (Commentary to 6:14-30)

………………………………..

The Torah states that Hashem
buried Moshe and that “no man
knows his burial place to this
day” (Deut. 34:6). Rabbi Hirsch
explains that a reason Moshe's
burial place was not revealed is
because Hashem did not want the
People of Israel to emulate
their pagan neighbors who
develop a cult of worship at the
graves of their great leaders
whom they deify (commentary to
34:6). We are therefore to put
our faith in the Compassionate
One and not in any human being,
as it is written:

“Do not rely on nobles, nor on a
human being, for he holds no
salvation. When his spirit
departs, he returns to his
earth; on that day his plans
perish. Praiseworthy is one
whose help is in Jacob's God,
whose help is in Hashem, his
God. He is the Maker of Heaven
and Earth, the sea and all that
is in them; He safeguards truth
forever. He does justice for the
exploited; He gives bread to the
hungry. Hashem releases the
bound.” (Psalm 146:3-7)

Be Well and Shalom,

Yosef Ben Shlomo Hakohen

Related Teachings:

1. The Torah tells us that “God
is not a man” (Numbers 23:19).

2. The Passover Haggadah
stresses that Hashem redeemed
us, and not an angel or human
being; in fact, the role of
Moshe is not even mentioned in
the Haggadah, in order to
reinforce this message. (The
ArtScroll Haggadah by Rabbi
Joseph Elias, page 60)

3. Rabbi Hirsch, in his
commentary on Exodus 6:14,
explains that although Moshe was
only a human being, he was
chosen to be the leader of
Israel because he was a worthy
candidate. The Torah calls Moshe
a “servant of Hashem”
(Deuteronomy 34:5); moreover,
the Torah indicates that there
will never arise in Israel a
prophet like Moshe (Deuteronomy
34:10).

4. There is a mitzvah which
prohibits us from deifying and
worshiping any object, being, or
power other than the
Compassionate One Who created
the Universe, as it is written:
“You shall have no other gods
before Me” (Exodus 20:3). The
deification of any fragment of
creation - whether it be an
aspect of nature, a human being,
a nation, or humanity itself -
can cause human beings to lose
their consciousness of the unity
and common origin of all
creation. The classical work on
the Torah’s mitzvos known as
“Sefer HaChinuch” discusses this
mitzvah, and it remind us that
this mitzvah is also part of the
universal code which all
humanity must keep (Mitzvah 26).
This mitzvah is included in “The
Thirteen Principles of Faith”
compiled by Maimonides. A brief
summary of these 13 principles
appears in the “Siddur” –
classical Jewish prayer book.

5.
We are to believe in the oneness
and unity of the Compassionate
One Who created the Universe, as
it is written: “Hear O Israel,
Hashem is our God, Hashem is
One!” (Deut. 6:4).
Regarding this mitzvah, the
Sefer HaChinuch states: “Hashem,
the Blessed One – the One Who
produced all existence – is the
Master of all; One, without any
partnership” (Mitzvah 417). The
basic principle of this mitzvah
is meant for all humankind;
thus, the Sefer HaChinuch adds:
“The root purpose of this
mitzvah is known, since it is
the core element of the faith of
all human beings” (ibid). This
mitzvah is also included in “The
Thirteen Principles of Faith”
compiled by Maimonides.